by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT

When the Democratic Alliance published its ministerial scorecard last night it was no surprise that both Faith Muthambi, minister of communication and Siyabonga Cwele, minister of telecommunications and postal services, joined the president in scoring 1/10. 

Click here for the full article 

Minister Siyabonga Cwele

The DA had at least compliments for one cabinet member, the minister of science and technology, Naledi Pandor, who scored 8/10.

After their appointments and the splitting of the Department of Communication after the elections earlier this year, industry asked the question "What was the President thinking?" - hoping that that Yunus Carrim - who achieved more in the short period when he was the minister of communications than several of the predecessors - would continue as the minister.

Regarding Cwele, the DA said in its report card that it is "difficult to discern" his grasp on policy as he has "not made any bold moves to date. In his July budget speech, Cwele made a number of commitments - none of which have been realised".

If the scorecard was just political point scoring by the DA one could laugh it off, but the situation is real and the consequences for the communications and broadcasting industries are serious... (more)

 

by Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology

Some say space activity is too expensive. Others say it's cheap. It's certainly true that the extraordinary social and economic benefits we see are achieved at a very small percentage of global GDP - less than 0,5%.

Click here for the full article

Minister Naledi Pandor

According to the OECD's Space Economy at a Glance (2014), the space economy generated US$256,2-billion in revenue in 2013. Most of this comes from consumer services like satellite television, but a third comes from the space manufacturing supply chain, and under 10% from satellite operators.

Of course the OECD countries dominate the space economy. But times are changing. The BRICS countries have invested substantially in recent years. India, China and Russia are now leading contributors to the space economy.

Now it's Africa's turn. We have to talk about space, coordinate our activities, and invest for the future. For Africa to catch up with OECD countries, African governments and relevant institutions have to increase investments and awareness of the use of space for decision making processes. We must stimulate an African dialogue on the use of space for development, building African capacity in science and technology, and promoting continental coordination of space activities.

The dialogue and coordination I am talking about is beginning to yield positive results as can be seen in the emergence of space agencies in Algeria, Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa. These developments have increased the appetite of African countries for developing space assets. So much so that an African Space Policy and Strategy is currently being developed by the African Union Commission through the African Ministers Committee on Science and Technology (AMCOST), and continental initiatives such as the Pan African University for Space Science and Technology and AfriGEOSS... (more)

 

by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT

LTE is not the ultimate in broadband mobility, it is just the beginning. While the new 5G is not yet out of the research laboratories - with several parameters and standards still to be finalised by organisations like IEEE, 5G Forum, the International Telecommunications Union and others - it is waiting around the corner.

Click here for the full article

The 5G technology will offer higher capacity, lowest latency including fast dynamic UL/DL switching for optimal resource utilisation. Multi-antenna technology, advanced receivers, and rank adaptation, self-organised fractional re-use for interference avoidance are amongst the other features talked about.

Currently in the research laboratory phase, it is expected that by 2016 5G will be through system design and pre-study, and then will go through a pre-definition stage. By 2020, in time for the Olympics in Japan, 5G will be commercially deployed.

According to Dave Mundy, head of radio, Nokia Networks in sub-Saharan Africa, unlike 2G, 3G and 4G, it is likely that 5G will not be a single new radio access technology nor will it replace macro cells. It will be a combination of existing radio access technologies in both the licensed and unlicensed bands plus one or more radio access technologies optimised for specific deployment scenarios and user cases. He said that Nokia has identified the need for a new radio access technology for ultra-dense deployments with the aim of providing a virtual zero latency gigabit experience... (more)

 

from Chris Yelland, managing director, EE Publishers

On behalf of the directors and staff of EE Publishers, may I wish all our readers, customers, subscribers, business associates, suppliers, associated institutes and industry associations, authors and contributors of editorial content season's greeting, and all the best for the new year ahead.

 

 
EngineerIT e-Zine

 PositionIT e-Zine
(Tablet and PC editions)